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REPORT 



Ol' TIIK 



COMMITTEE 



FEDERAL RELATIONS. 



PRESENTED TO THE SENATE MARCH 5, 1863, BY MR. COBB, CHAIR- 
MAN OF THE COMMITTEE; ADOPTED BY THE SENATE, MARCH T. 
AND 5,000 COPIES ORDERED TO BE PRINTED. 



REPORT 



OF THE 



C O AI M I T T E E 



ON 



FEDERAL ]{ELAT10:NS. 



PRESENTED TO THE SENATE MARCH 5, 1863, BY MR. COBB, CHAIR 
MAN OF THE COMMITTEE; ADOPTI-]D BY THE SENATE MARCH 7, 
AND 5,000 COPIES ORDERED TO BE PRINTED. 



INDIANAPOLIS: 
JOSEPH J. BINGHAM, STATE PRINTER. 

1863. 



t 5oc, 



S NOV 1905 
D. of D. 






REPORT. 



Mr. President: — 

The Committee on Federal Relations, of the Senate, t» whom 
was referred the proceedings of the oliicers of the Twentieth Regi- 
ment -Indiana Volunteers, hold at Camp Pitcher, Virginia, on the 
19th of February, 1863; the memorial of the Nineteenth R(^giment 
of Indiana Vohuiteers, as well as the memorial and proceedmgs of 
the Sixth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, Twenty-Second. Twenty-Ninth, 
Thirty-Fourth, Thirty-Second, Thirty-Seventh, Thirty-Ninth, For- 
tieth, Forty-Second, Forty-Fourl h, Fifty-First, Fifty-Seventh, Fifty- 
Eighth, Seventy-Second, Seventy-Third, Seventy-Fifih, Seventy- 
Ninth, Eighty-Second, Eighty-Sixth, and One Hundred and First 
Regiments of Indiana Volunteers, have had the same under con- 
sideration, and having bestowed on these proceedings the respectful 
and earnest consideration to which they are entitled, have instructed 
me to report the following general reply to the suggestions of the 
gallant volunteers now in the field: 

To the Regiments now in the field from Indiana^ and to the Officers 
and Men who compose them : 

Fellow-Citizens: 

We have received from twenty-five Indiana Regiments, and 
from the Fifth, Seventh, Eighth and Tenth Batteries of Artillery, 
words of counsel and advice in the present imperiled condition of 
our beloved country. These words were borne to us in the lan- 
guage of true patriotism, and are accepted by the Senate of Indiana 
with the respect which is due to gallant men engaged in the ser- 
vice of their once peaceful, but now distracted country. From no 
portion of our fellow-citizens could these suggestions be more 
acceptable. But two short years ago you were in the midst of our 
people, sharing, in the various walks of life, the cares and respon- 
sibilities of civil occupations, and enjoying those endearments 
which make up the sum of human happiness — for man, after all 
his toils, has nothing left to him but "wife, children, and friends,'' 



the f'njoyment of homo, and the love of a Constitution and Gov- 
t'rnmcnr which is to descend to his posterity, it is to be hoi)cd, for 
ever Ir is for these that men labor. Beyond these objects, in this 
world, there is nothin- that challenges the constant and persistent 
efiort of our race. For these we all contend in life's short career. 
You are now m the tented field, and we in the legislative halls of 
our beloved State, each endeavoring to put down a rebellion and 
preserxx- a Constitution— the one hated, the other adored. That 
each i-tfort may be successful, is the prayer of the Indiana Senate. 
We tear, gentlemen, that you have heard much that was untrue 
m regard to the intentions of the General Assembly which con- 
vened at the Capitol on the Sth day of January last. You have 
liearc. a great deal that was untrue before that time. For more 
tlia.i a year past there has bec-n a constant effort to mislead your 
muids in regard to the feelings of a majority of the people of 
Indiana, and we doubt not that it will be continued. There is an 
object to be g-ained. On every account we shcmld regret its success 
because that would do more to insure "divided counsels," which 
you so properly (h'precate, than any one thing else. There should 
bestrietjust.ee meted out to all our people, for each and every 
man in Indiana has the same interest in restoring the authority of 
the Government, and bringing all the States back into one liarmo- 
nions Union. The hnmbh^st citizen and the proudest in the land 
should have a common object in view in keeping the States 
together, «,?rf he is no friend of the nation who would divide us „n 
mto factions at a time like this, by false representations of\he 
aims and intentions of the great mass of the people of Indiana. 
Ihe majority of this General Assemblv have suffered much from 
the ungenerous accusations of partisans in and out of office- thev 
Imve forborm. to repel these charges as thev deserved, for the .nke 
of qui.'t and peace at home, determiiu-d to rely upon their actions 
as the best and most worthy defense of themselves in your ev^s 
and the eyes of the great and patriotic people of vour Siate 'We 
have remained comparatively silent; and while the influences 
which surrounded the Executive chamber of this C^apital were 
used to prejudice the majority, and to make you believe that z/om 
thiT'T r r "^"'i ^"''/'^"^^^ f*^-- ^vl.om we act, had sealed 
^•Z T r "^' '""''''u '? ^'^" 'l=^y when truth and not falsehood 
^^o^l\d break in upon the land. The very money which th(> ma- 
jority of the people had paid for your comfort and benefit, in the 
hospiial and in the sick ro«m, were turned into means of detrac! 
t.on l,y 1 he agents paid oat of that most sacred fund. Thes<. a JiUs 
had access to you, and that privilege was abused to poison the 
m nds of the sons and brothers of those who had williLglv taxed 
themselves for he comfort of the soldier. You have, no doubt 
seen these men in your camps, and you have listened to he r 3 
of those pensioned patriots-pensioned out of the mouev which 
ought to have been appropriated for your exclusive benefit AH 
this has been borne in silence. We now thank vou for the oppo 



tnnity which has been thus afforded to set the true state of the 
facts before our gallant army. We ask only to be heard fur the 
sake of truth. 

We are accused of encouraging a partisanship in regard 1o this 
war, of which we are entirely guiltless. There has been no act or 
resolution passed, and none indorsed by either branch of the General 
Assembly^ which gives warrant or color to such a charge. There 
are measures of policy adopted by Congress and the President to 
which we have or will enter our solemn j^rotest, as the people of 
Indiana have done at the election in October. Men who make up 
and sustain the Government, as you, the people, and ourselves do, 
have a right to condemn such measures, it, in the exercise of a 
sound judgment, we regard them as intended to divide the people 
in the vigorovs prosecution of the war. It is for the President to 
adopt a war policy for the army in the field, and it is the right of 
the people's Representatives in Congress, and in the local Legisla- 
tures, to adopt such wise and prudent enactments in regard to the 
civil administration of public atiairs as will most surely bring all 
the States back into the Union, after the war is closed. This 
power and duty we claim for Congress and the local Legislalures, 
and, without the rightful and free exercise of this power, neither 
the soldiers in the field, nor citizens at home, would have institu- 
tions worth fighting or contending for. If the President can do as 
he pleases, and there shall be no limit to his power, then popular 
elections are a farce, and State Governments a nullity. We know 
you too well to believe that you would ever consent to the estab- 
lishment of a doctrine so slavish. The gallant soldiers would be 
the first victims of such a despotism. The people and the State 
Governments are your own strong and sure defense against oppres- 
sion now, and neglect hereafter. Give neither up at the bidding 
of those who would degrade you and your fathers, brothers, neigh- 
bors, and fellow-citizens to the condition of serfs and the bondage 
of slaves. Neither the soldiers or the people are prepared for such 
political humiliation. 

Let us look to the history of our action, here and elsewhere, and 
the causes which have led to the ascendency of the majority in this 
chamber. It was manifest before the adjournment of Congress, at 
the first regular session, that the whole; policy of the Administration, 
in conducting the war, had been changed, and that new and start- 
ling measures were inaugurated at Washington. This created 
wide-spread alarm among the people in all the free States, and 
aroused a sentiment which demanded a convocation of a Mass 
Convention of conservative and loyal citizens at Indianapolis. 
That Convention was held on the 30th day of July, 1862. It was 
called to give utterance to its sentiments in regard to the measures 
to which we have alluded. We can not better define the position 
of the majority of the Senate and the other House, and of the 
people of Indiana, than by giving the resolutions adopted by the 
vast concourse of your fellow-citizens which assembled on that 
occasion. They are as follows: 



Resolutions adopted at the Mass 3Ieeting- of the Democrats and 
» other Conservative Citizens of Indiana, July 30, 1862. 

Resolved, That the Coiistitutioii, the American Union, and the 
laws made under and by the authority ot the Constitution, must 
be preserved and maintained in their proper and rightful 8Uj)remaey; 
that the rebellion now in arms against them must be suppressed 
and put down, and that it is the dtity of all good citizens to aid 
the General (JovcTument in all measun^s necessary and proper to 
that end. 

• Resolved, That the Democracy of Indiana, with pairiots every 
where, have made and will continue to make, every sacrifice to the 
end that the rebellion may be suppressed, the supremacy of the 
Constitution maiiitained, and the Union under it preserved; but 
thev ar(; unalterably opposed to a war of conquest or sul)jugation. 
and they will never consent that the war, on their part, shall he 
waged for the purpose of interfering with the rights, or overthrow- 
ing the established institutions of any of tlu^ States. In the lan- 
guage of Senator Douglas, uttered at Chicago, a few days before 
his death: "We must not invade constitutional rights. The inno- 
cent must not suffer, nor women and c-hildren be the victims. 
S;ivages must not be let loose." 

Resolved, That we protest, in the name of ourselves and of our 
children, and in the name of all that we hold dear in the future of 
our beloved country, against the mischievous measure of negro 
emancipation in the District of Columbia, and the payment for 
such negroes out of the National Treasury; and we furtlu^r protest 
against the resolution of Congress, j)le(lging the nation to pay for 
all negroes which may be emancipated by the authority of any of 
the Southern States; that wc regard such measures, involving as 
they do an expenditure of two thousand live hundred millions of 
dollars, as measures of transcenaiMit enormity, and fruitful only of 
national bi^ggary to the land \\v love; that we are unalterably and 
imeonditionally opposed to all schemes having for thiMr ol)ject, 
intmediate or remote, the taxation of the white man for the pur- 
chase of negroes any where; that we deny the constitutional right 
of the President or Congress to adopt a policy which taxes white 
labor to pay for negroes, or which would make the (u)veriiment or 
people slave dealers: a policy which, if not arrested by the votes 
of tin; people, will entail upon unborn generations of our kindred 
a debt more overwhelming and appalling than ever cursed any 
nation of ancient or modern times. 

Resolved, That in opposition to measures of this kind we desire 
to interpose the peaceful and powerful agents, the ballot of a free 
peojde, and say in the language of anoiher, " We will neither sur- 
render (nir right-^ nor forsake them. We will maintain our consti- 
tutional liberty at all hazards, and as a necessary step toward that 
end, we will maintain the Union in like manner. We are for the 
Constitution as it is and the Union as it was." 



Resolved^ That, in the language of the resolution of the conser- 
vative members of C'ongress, the doctrine of the Secessionists and 
of the Abolitionists, as the latter are now represented in Congress, 
;)re alike inconsistent with the Constitution and irreconcileable 
with the unity and peace of the country. The first have already 
involved us in a civil war, and the others — the Abolitionists — will 
leave the country but little hope of the speedy restoration of Union 
or peace. 

Resolved^ That the happy accord of the Border State Union 
men of Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri and Western Virginia with 
the Democratic delegations in Congress, in their joint elibrts Jo 
arrest the tide of fanaticism in both houses, has filled all national 
hearts in this State with sentiments of deep afiection for our breth- 
ren of those gallant Commonwealths, and we hereby pledge to 
them and the country our best efiiorts to secure to the councils of 
the nation statesmen who will labor to restore the Union of the 
States on the basis and in the spirit of our matchless and r<^vered 
Constitution. 

Resolvedy That the peoj)le justly \\c\\ with alarm the reckless 
exrravagance which j)crvades every department ol' the Federal 
(rovernment; that a return to rigid economy and accountability is 
indispensable to arrest the syslematie plunder of the public treasury 
by favored partisans, while the recent startling developnienls of 
frauds and corruptions at the Federal metropolis show thai an 
I'litire change of adiuinisiration is imperatively demanded. 

Resolved, That we approve of and indorse the resolutions drawn 
l^y Hon. John J. C-rittenden, and adopted by the conservative mem- 
bers of Congress on the 22d day of January, 1861, as a clear and 
just declaration of the objects which ought to be had in view by 
the American people in the present fearful emergency of their 
national affairs. 

Resolved, That we recur with patriotic pride to the bravery and 
valor of the ofhc( ss and soldiers of all the Indiana regiments, 
exhibited in the struggles upon the many bloody fields in which they 
have been engaged, and that this Convention, in behalf of the 
Democracy of this State, tender to them a united testimony to 
their valor and devotion to the Constitution and the Union, and 
offer to the friends and families of those who have fallen in the 
service of their country its sincere sympathy and condolence, and 
that we will ever cherish in grateful recollectic)n the willing sacri- 
fice made by the noble sons of Indiana, in exchanging the peaceful 
avocations of life for the hardships and perils of war. 

The Convention which passed these resolutions was attended by 
f'orf.1/ thousand citizens of Indiana, who had come up from every 
neighborhood and coiuity in the State. Since the days when the 
white man first set his foot upon the soil of Indiana, there never 
was such an assemblage of the white race within the confines of 
this city. We may declare, too, that it was composed of as many 
unselfish men as ever attended a convention. That there were 



8 

politicians among them it would be nncandid to deny, but. what 
gathering of the people has ever taken |)lace where that eould not 
be said. It was, indeed, a mighty host of freemen, who met to 
counsel together. Many of them were the fathers, the brothers or 
the relations of the men composing the grand army of the naiion — 

ALL OF THKM YOUR FRIKNDS. 

And what can be said against the above resolutions ? Whdt 
against the principles laid down for the government of a great 
nation? Is there any disloyalty to the Crovernment in their tone 
or spirit ? They arc plain and to the point ; they have the merit of 
candor. It is no sectional party phitforin, but embraces ovr whole 
covntnj. We there pledged Indiana to the prosecution of this war 
for the higli and holy purpose of ri'storing the Union, putting 
down the rebellion now in arms against it, and that it is the duty of 
all good citizens to aid the General Government in all measures 
necessar// and proper to the end. We stand by that ple^lge to day. 

The majority of this Senate and the other House, all the State 
officers, seven members of the lower branch of Congress, and a 
United States Senator, have all been elected on the grounds 
assumed by that Convention. It condemned certain measures of 
Congress and the President, and took issue with the Republican 
Convention which did not indorse and would not condeirm them. 
One of these measures of Congress was particularly obnoxious. 
It pledged the nation and people to pay for negroes which might 
be emancipated by the " authority of the State." It was a j)ledge 
which Congress had no right to make, and one that the freemen of 
this country will decree shall not be carried out. It was made 
without notice to the peo])le. without even an allusion to it as a 
prol)able measure of pt)licy, and, in defiance, we are bound to say, 
of I'vcry constitutional power. How the purchase of three or four 
millions of negroes by the white laborers of the North could 
" put down the reb(^llion " or restore the Union, no department of 
the Government, and no member of Congress has ever had the 
candor 1() exj)lain. A pledge for sueh a purpose, 1)V whomsoever 
made, and all similar schemes for mixing up negro emaiicijiation 
with this war for the Union, received the open condemnation of 
that Convention. It was but a reflex of the peoj)le's voice in 
July — it was the voice of Indiana in October. That condemna- 
tion we now echo from this chamb(>r, and there are none who will 
defend that pledge, or make an issue on it before the people. 

If the Administration and its advisers desired to keep the 
people "united" for the pro^^ecution of this war, why were those 
measures of negro emancipation and purchase forced upon the 
naiion at a time like this? If they did not know that it would 
divide the citizens, and make men doubt in regard to the objects oi 
this war. then we can only say that they have too little sagacity 
to control the affairs of a great nation. But when the proclama- 
tion of the 22d of September. 18fi2, fell upon the people, "like a 
fire-bell in the night," the wildest confusion was added to the 



doubts which took possession of the public mind. There stood 
revealed before the world two measures which invoked the con- 
demnation of the people of Indiana, ayid they received it. No one 
dared to defend them. They got no defense. The candidates 
sustained by the minority stood mute at the giant measure of 
oppression they were expected to defend — taxation for the purpose 
of freeing African slaves, and a horde of free negroes thrown upon 
the soil of the free West. We, and those with whom we acted, 
opposed measures of transcendent enormity like these, and those 
who apologized for them — they had no defenders — went under the 
wave of popular indignation in Indiana. Was this opposing the 
war? In defending you and ourselves from oppression and bank- 
ruptcy, and keeping the Government within the scope of its con- 
stitutional power, we were only discharging a duty to our great 
and unfortunate nation. For doing this, we have been denounced 
to you as traitors, and by men, too, who have followed your camps, 
not to share your hardships and dangers, but to gather up the 
crumbs which have fallen from the table provided by the generosity 
and sense of justice of the people of your beloved State. We know 
these men, and Vv* hether of high or low degree, have a right to hold 
them up to lhe scorn and contempt of all just men in the army 
and out of it. 

You ask us to " give this war a cheerful and hearty support — 
that we will pour out the treasure of the State as our soldiers 
have poured out their blood, to aid the holy cause of restoring the 
Union of our fathers" — that we should abstain from heated politi- 
cal discussions and party wrangiings, until the authority of 
Government is once more established ; that we should resist " the 
infernal spirit which would waste victory in humiliating compro- 
mise ; and that we should sacrifice every thing, except libertv and 
political equality, to National integrity." These requests are rea- 
sonable, and they come to us in pleasant words. The Senate of 
Indiana, the House of Representatives, and the people represented 
by both branches, have given, and will continue to give, a cheerful 
and hearty support to this war, for the restoration of the 
Union, and the majority which we represent are prepared to con- 
tribute even more of the treasure of the Stale than on any former 
occasion, in aid of the volunteers now in the field from Indiana. 
These two points in your request are, so far as the majority has 
power, already con)])lied with. How far it will be in the power 
of that majority to avoid " heated political discussion and j)arty 
wrangling," will depend greatly upon the conduct of the minority, 
and their consent to accept deeds and not vwrds as the measure 
of true men's loyalty. The legislation of the session has been 
generally harmonious; but theye are questions which now and then 
arise to impede the progress of business. There are no disagree- 
ments about furnishing , the army with all that is deemed essential 
for its comfort, and large appro))riation have already passed th 
Senate, and by a unanimous vote. These disagreements an 



10 

" wi'anglings " are over measures v;hich relate to people at ho/ne, 
and not to the arm// from our Slate. The rnajoriTy, while they look 
to your interests, as soldiers, have- also an eye to your home inter- 
ests and the welfare of fathers, V^rothers and neighbors. While 
you fight rebellion and treason in the army, the General Assembly 
wish to preserve yoin' (iovfrninent at home from being tm-ned into 
:in engine of tyranny, nsurpatiou, and merciless t;ixation. They 
don't want you taxed tc; pay for negroes — nor to have the negroes 
come into Indiana, to become hired laborers on the farms of the 
State. They don't wish to have the people arrested without 
warrant of law, and imprisoned in dungeons without trial. They 
don't want the money ai)propriated for your bejiefit squandered on 
piuijis and favorites : and, above all, they don't want to see the 
free Constitution of Indiana trampled under foot for the gratifica- 
tion of those who aim to override the co-ordinate departments 
of the State, and engulph ai.l the powers of the Government 
in their own hands. That point of our resistance is what gives 
oH'ense, and the political colporteurs sent among you to slander 
and vilify the majority of this Senate and the other branch of 
the Legislature, are ):)erlorming only a duty imposed by the nature 
of their unhappy calling. 

The Senate is quitt; willing to indorse the sentiments of your 
memorial, which counsels that we should resist the "infi^rnal spirit 
which would waste victory in humiliating compromises.*' That is 
sound advice, and this Senate will lay th(^ same to heart as a lesson 
of wisdom. The majority of this General Asseu)l)ly assure their 
gallant friends in the army, that there are no such members in either 
branch of the Legislative departments. No one here thinks of 
hnmiliatin^ compromises, or indeed, compromises of any kind, for 
they have no power to enforce them, and are too proud to beg them 
from the administration of Mr. Lincoln, even if their supplications 
could avail at such a tribunal. They know too well what influ- 
ences prevail at Washington to approach the ear of our Com- 
mander-in-Chief. Not so, good friends. No humiliating compro- 
mises are asked for by this General Assembly, and if there be a 
l)arty which has "wasted victories," or failed to im|)rove them, 
when won, it must have bc.'cn those in possession of the (leneral 
Government and not the Indiana Legislature. We have had no, 
power to "waste" any victory, or to turn success into ashes in the 
hands of the nation. The assertion that we do desire such com- 
])romises is without foundation. The Senate and General Assem- 
bly of Indiana an; entirely willing that the President and his 
Administration siiould make this war a part of it^ history, and that 
its "compromises" shall begin at such time as may to them secern 
befitting. We had no .agency in inaugurating this war, nor in 
carrying it on ; none in directing its policy ; none in the control of 
its armies, and it is not our design to interfere wdth it in any 
improp<;r manner. Our duty is to pay taxes — to take care of the 
sick and wounded soldiers — to look and wait for the end of this 



11 

cruel and bitter strife — to take care of our State aflairs, and to 
hope tliat our beloved country will one day emerge from the clouds 
which hang over her, with the Union restored as it was, and with 
all the States existing in harmony under the matchless Constitu- 
tion of our fathers. 

It would be wrong to conceal the fact that there is a grov^dng 
anxiety in tlie public mind that this war should be brought to a 
close in some mode not humihating to the nation. It has lasted 
nearly two years, and with great waste of blood and treasure. 
Thousands have fallen in the conflict, and the richest veins have 
been opened to pour upon the earth the purple current of our brave 
soldiers. Indiana has contributed copious streams to the flood of 
human gore which has reddened the soil of Virginia, Kentucky, 
Tennessee, Missouri and Arkansas. Our braves have gone down 
on nearly every battle field, and the hosts from our State have been 
thinned in every new encounter. They have fallen on the right 
hand and on th© left. Disease has also done its work, and every 
train which passes over our thoroughfares brings the remains of 
some gallant spirit who died away from kindred and friends. And 
is it strange that this desire for peace should possess the public 
mind? Men are not made of iron, nor their hearts of steel. The 
human sympathies are not closed in the family circle, nor are 
human woes hushed by the clangor of arms. There are hearts that 
will/ee/ and minds that will think even in perilous times like these. 
The kind father and the doting mother will remember their first 
born, and wish he was at the old cottage, where from infancy his 
loved form was a solace to the declining years of his aged parents. 
The brother w^ill look anxiously for the return of that brother, 
friend, tiie playmate of his earliest days ; and has the poor and for- 
saken wife no choice about the time when this war shall close? 
Has she no wish to see him to whom, in the gushing hours of her 
spring time, she abandoned all for his sake? Let us not be 
deceived. There are anxieties on this subject. The public mind 
is feverish and will speak out. Neither Presidents, Congressmen 
nor (rovernors, even with the aid of the griind army of contractors, 
can stifle this feeling of deep anxiety for an honorable peace. This 
nation is too young to cherish a sentiment for permanent war. 
Her institutions — founded on perfect fieedom of sentiment, and the 
absence of military restraints — will not endure a long and wasting 
contest for the gratification of any thing short of national existence. 
He is not a wise man who looks upon it in any other light. He is 
less than wise; who could desire it. 

The present General Assembly, by members of the reviled 
majority, have recommended the passage of the following meas- 
ures for the benefit of the soldiers of Indiana now in the field. 

1. A bill appropriating two millions of dollars, to provide for 
the prompt payment of the officers ^and soldiers in the army of the 
United States, raised and organized in the State of Indiana, and 
to provide means for that purpose. This measure was recom- 



12 

mendidby Governor Morton, and promptly seconded by the major- 
ity members of the House and Senate. This bill has passed the 
Senate by yeas 43, nays none. The yeas are as follows : Messrs. 
Bearss, Berry, Blair, Bradley, Cam))bell, Claypool, Cobb, Corbin, 
Davis of Vermillion, Davis of Cass, Dickinson, Douglass, Downey, 
Ferguson, Finch, Fleming, Fuller, Gaff', Gillord, Graves, Hartley, 
Hoagland, Hord, Jenkins, Landers, McClurg, Mansfield, March, 
Marshall, Mellett, Moore, Murray, New, Pleak, Ray, Shields, Tee- 
garden, White, Williams. Wilson, WollV, Wright, and Mr. Presi- 
dent — 13. Democrats 25, Republicans 18. 

2. A joint resolution of thanks to the soldiers of Indiana, and 
providing for the registry and j)reservation of the names of those 
who have fallen in the service of their country during the present 
war. This resolution has passed both Houses unanimously. 

3. An appropriation of one hundred thousand dollars will be 
inserted in tin; specific appropriation bill, as recommended by the 
Committee of Vv'ays and Means, to be expended -in aid of the sick 
and wounded soldiers of Indiana, in such proper sujjplies as the 
Government hospitals shall fail lo furnish. 

A committee of the House has also recounnended for adoption 
the following measures for the action of Congress, the same being, 
in the opinion of majority, demanded for the good of the service. 

1. A joint resolution to Congress, asking that the pay of pri- 
vate soldiers in the army be raised 2r'3 per cent., or say $16 jier 
month, the present pay being shamefully inadequate to the service 
performed, and that a joint resolution l)e passed, forthwith, urging 
the increase at the present session of Congress. 

2. That we favor a joint resolution to Congress, to be passed 
forthwith, asking that it provide by law for the payment of the 
wages of privat(> soldiers and company oflicers in gold and silver, 
or their equivalent in pajjer money, at par, -and also for the payment 
of pensions to our wounded soldiers and the pensions to widows 
and orphans of those who have died in the service or been killed 
in battle, in the same mode, and in the same par funds, it being the 
gciise of this House that those who give iheir services, their health 
and their lives to the nation, should be placed on as favorable foot- 
ing as the banker or capitalist who loans money to the Govern- 
ment. 

It is gratifying to be able to say to those in the field, that what- 
ever ditferences of opinion may exist in this General Assembly in 
regard to the State policy of Indiana and the emancipation measures 
of the Administration of Presideni Lincoln and the Congrc^ss just 
expired, tliere are none in rchition to the diitj/ of Indiana toward 
the army. The above measures, adopted and recommended, will 
be accepted as proof that no unfriendly spirit exists toward you. 
In return for this, the General Assembly only asks at your hands 
that no partisan efforts from home will swerve you from the duty 
of soldiers, or make you partakers of the fell spirit of faction 
which seeks to slander down a majority of the people of your own 



13 

State. We want you to remember that the gallant old Democratic 
party fought two foreign wars, with England and Mexico, carried 
the country successfully and triumphantly through those conflicts, 
and that no soldier ever received injustice at its hands. Tha.t 
party has always been recognized as the soldier's friend : and now 
that its own members make up a full half of the present grand 
army, it would be base and dishonest to desert them or their no 
less patriotic associates of the Republican party. Put away from 
your presence, gallant soldiers of the nation, the cringing tools of 
power who visit your camps with slanders on their tongues and 
the hate of their masters in their hearts, and tell them that your 
tents and your cabins are temples of honor, truth and jiatriotism — 
that party and faction are excluded — that there is no room for 
those who desire to bear false witness against their neighbor — that 
your sense of justice requires repose from the importunities of the 
slanderer and the tale bearer. Tell those characters that you will 
trust to the people of Indiana, and all the departments of their 
government, relying upon that sense oi justice and right which has 
always been manifested by them in the conduct of their public 
affairs. 

A thousand rumors have reached you, no doubt, about the inten- 
tions of this General Assembly. It has been said, ^.t the begin- 
ning of this session, that the majority of the two branches designed 
to " carry this State out of the Union, and attach her to the 
Southern Confederacy." This was stated in the streets of India- 
napolis, tirst by some cowardly officials perhaps, and then in the 
public prints belonging to the same faction. We need hardly say 
to you that such a charge rests updn the unsupported malice of 
some malignant knave, who, finding his party dying out, took that 
method of " arousing the country " against a phantom of his own 
creation. It would have been a ridiculous slander, if the subject 
was not too grave for ridicule. As it is, it was a base and cowardly 
one — for which the author or authors, if they could be traced out 
with certainty, deserve a just punishment. It would be a shame 
to defile the law by invoking its calm majesty to punish a man 
who would thus heap falsehood upon his fellow-citizens. If such 
a report has ever reached your camps, we declare to you that there 
is no truth in it — that there is not one man in either branch of the 
General Assembly, of the majority party, who now entertains, or 
ever entertained, a thought so traitorous to himself, his God and 
his country. 

We again thank you for your communications, and for the kind 
manner in which you have expressed your wishes. They shall 
receive, as some of them have already, the respectfvil and favorable 
consideration of this General Assembly. You and your fellow- 
citizens at home have the same great object — the restoration of 
the Union and the preservation of our sacred and revered Con- 
stitution. While you look after traitors in arms, and overturn and 
overthrow their serried hosts, we shall take care of the violators of 



14 

the Constitution at home, and see that the ballot of a free people 
is felt in the preservation of your liberties and our own. If rebel- 
lion triumphs it will be no fault of yours. If despotism and 
anarchy, and the violation of constitutional rights are attempted 
in Indiana, it will be for the people of this gallant State to 
protect and preserve them. 

In tlie bonds of love and afTection for the Constitution and the 
Union made by it, unchanged and |KM-p(;tual, 

We remain your fellow citizens, 

THOS. R. COBB, Chairman, 

S. K. WOLFE, 

ARCH JOHNSON, 

P. HOACH^AND, 

M. M. RAY, 

JOHN DAVIS. 



MINORITI REPORT. 



Mr. Ma[{ch, from the Minority of the Committee on Federal Rela- 
tions, submitted the following 

REPORT: 

Mr. President — The undersigned members of the Committee 
on Federal Relations, to which were referred sundry proceedings 
and resolutions of four batteries of artillery and twenty-five dilier- 
ent regiments of Indiana Volunteers, have had the same under 
consideration, in connection with the other members of the com- 
mittee, and after listening to the reading of the report, which the 
majority recommend to be adopted by the Senate as a general 
reply to the above resolutions of our patriotic and gallant soldiers, 
ask leave to submit the following report for the consideration and 
adoption of the Senate : 

To the Officers and Soldiers now in the field from Indiana^ in the 
various armies of the Republic : 

Fellow-Citizens — While we join the majority of the Commit- 
tee upon Federal Relations, and of the Senate, in returning to you 
our most heartfelt thanks for your very opportune communications, 
your words of admonition and o'' counsel, and while we iiave been 
and are now willing to be guided by them in our action, and step 
upon your platform with any and all parties, as the common plat- 
form of all true patriots, yet we have not understood that a long 
and formal reply of the character of the one presented by the 
majority of the Committee was either desired or expected by you 
from this General Assembly, or from either branch of it. 

We have been willing to let this body, and all whom it represents, 
be judged by their acts, without any special detailed defense, ihink- 
ing that we should give better heed to your counsel, " to abstain 
from heated political discussions, and violent i)arty wranglings," 
by keeping silent, than by sending among you such a document as 
the one recommended by the majority of the Committee. F'or 
while defending one party and its members against a supposed 



16 

charge of a want of unconditional and fervent loyalty to the 
National Government, many accusations are directly and indirectly 
made against the National Administration and its policy; against 
the State Executive and the persons employed by it to visit the 
sick and wounded soldiers, and consequently against all those who 
support the National Administration, and those who have confi- 
dence in the energy, ability, humanity and patriotism of the (gov- 
ernor of the State. But inasmuch as the majority of the Com- 
mittee and of the Senate, have resolved to send to you a general 
reply, aliiiough we can not be expected to indorse all tiiat is con- 
tained in the one proposed, yet we desire to unite with the major- 
ity in conveying to you our sentiments upon all matters in wiiich 
we agree and without attempting or desiring to notice many things 
of argument and of minor importance, to resjiectfully express our 
dissent from some opinions and conclusions contained therein, and 
supi)ly some of its omissions. 

We unite most heartily with the majority in all their expres- 
sions of regard for your welfare, for your honor and success; 
with tiiem we sympathise with you in your toils and sufl'erings, 
your absence from home and its comforts, and we partake with 
them in the pride of your great achievements. We have heretofore 
and will continue to unite with them and with any and all parties 
in })r()viding ways and means for your prompt jrayment, for your 
comfort when suilering from sickness and wounds, and for the 
comfort and support of your families under all circumstances in 
your absence. 

We lament the necessity for this war, and have not words with 
which to express our grief for the woe and sufferings it has 
indicted upon our country, and u])on many thousands of loyal 
hearts. But we can discover no way of escape, no iiope of relief, 
except by subduing and disarming the haughty and insolent traitors, 
who, without cause, commenced the war. In order to succeed in 
the war we must be united, and give to the Governin,ent our 
undivided confidence and supjiort. 

We unite with the majority of the Committee in ex]:)ressing a 
determination to defend all the jK-rsonal rights of every citizen of 
the State from all unwarrantable encroachments from any quarter, 
and will support the State in the full exercise of all her Constitu- 
tional powers, and at the same time maintain her allegiance to the 
National Government intact under all circumstances. 

We must say, however, that we have as yet failed to discover 
any disjiosition on the part of the General Government to encroach 
upon the powers of the State or the rights of the citizen. 

We have said that the minority united with the majority in 
thanking you for your words of counsel and of good cheer. We 
repeat it. We had been told that you had been broken into 
factions and were demoralized by the ])olicy adopted by the Gen- 
eral Government. Your patriotic communications to this General 
Assembly prove the report to have been a mistake, or a base 



17 

slander. There were rumors that you were discouraged and dis- 
heartened by the length of the war and the want of more general 
military success, but your brave and loyal words and firm resolves 
deprive these rumors of all power to harm, have strengthened our 
resolution and renewed our confidence in the ability of the Govern- 
ment to put down the rebellion, preserve the Constitution, and 
restore the Union. 

Your counsel and suggestions have undoubtedly been of incalcu- 
lable benefit to each member of this General Assembly, in en- 
abling him to come to a correct conclusion in regard to his course 
of conduct, and the line of policy to be pursued by the State. 

Ih common with you, at the commencement of the session, and 
until recently, we were alarmed and oppressed with great anxiety 
with reference to the position in which the State might be placed, 
and its influence upon the general cause. It is needless to refer to 
the causes, except in general terms, for you are fully acquainted 
with all our proceedings. 

Resolutions have buen introduced in this General Assembly by- 
leading members, bitterly condemning the conduct of the Execu- 
tive of the State, and of the National Administration and all its 
policy, and at the same time, recommending an armistice and a 
peace convention, while the rebels were treating all such proposi- 
tions with scorn and contempt and their military power was 
unbroken. At the same time, Davis, the arch traitor, was traveling 
through the rebel States, and exhorting them to hold out, as the 
Northwest was now divided on the policy of the war, and that was 
the " quarter to which he looked for the first breaking of the light 
of peace." 

Bills were repeatedly introduced, whose only effect could have 
been, if enacted into laws, to completely trammel the Executive in 
the exercise of his constitutional military powers, and divide the 
State into two hostile military camps. One of those bills is still 
pending in the House, engrossed for a third reading. 

We are ready to admit that we breathe more freely since we 
have been presented with the general reply to your communica- 
tions as representing the sentiments of the majority of the Senate. 
We repeat, that the majority, in common with ourselves, have 
undoubtedly been greatly benefited by your counsel and advice in 
their deliberations, and in coming to many of their conclusions. 

You have now the double honor of defeating our enemies in the 
field of battle and of giving efficient aid in directing the civil 
government at home. 

We wish now briefly to refer to a matter which seems wholly, or 
in a great part, omitted in the general reply of the majority. 

In one of your communications to the General Assembly you 
use the following language : — 

" We ask that you will sustain all officers of the State and 
General Government, in their efforts to subdue this unholy rebellion, 
and especially that you will' sustain our worthy Governor, whose 
F. R.— 2 



18 

every energy during the past two years has been entirely devoted 
to tlie cause of the Government and its supporters." 

" We appeal to you especially to sustain him for the reason that 
it is chiefly to his unceasing care and labor exhibited in arming 
and supplying the troops of Indiana that we have to attribute our 
present proud position among the loyal States of the Union ; and 
for the further reason, that he has demonstrated by his acts Ihat he 
is an earnest and zealous patriot, devoting his time with untiring 
energy to the glorious cause for which we are battling ; we appeal 
to you as our representatives to encourage him in the good work 
of ministering to the wants of our unfortunate comrades who have 
been stricken down in the strife of the battle field, and by the 
cruelty of relentless disease ; that you will confer on him all the 
necessary authority, and place in his hands the requisite means to 
carry out the good work which he has begun, remembering, that 
one human life is worth all the treasure of the proudest State." 

We have failed to discover in the general reply of the majority 
any recognition of the services of the Governor of the State, alluded 
to in your communication, or any thing to strengthen or encourage 
him in his arduous and responsible labors. On the contrary, those 
employed by him to carry aid and comfort to the soldiers in the 
field and in the hospitals, are vilified with the most odious epithets, 
are called " pensioned patriots," " pensioned out of the money 
which ought to have been appropriated to your exclusive benefit." 
It is charged that " political colporteurs have been sent among you 
to slander and vilify the majority of this Senate and the other 
branch of the Legislature," "cringing tools of power who visit 
your camps with slander on their tongues and the hate of their 
masters in their hearts." It is charged that "the very moneys 
which the majority of the people had paid for your comfort and 
benefit in the hospital and in the sick room, were turned into 
means of detraction by the agents paid out of that most sacred 
fund." 

You are, undoubtedly, l)etter able to judge of the truth of these 
charges than any member of the Committee, or of the Senate, but 
80 far as our knowledge extends, we are not aware of any facts to 
sustain them, and believe them to be wholly without foundation. 
If there is ground for these charges in any respect, let it be pub- 
lished to the world. If they are without foundation, we trust that 
you will promptly stamp them with falsehood, and vindicate the 
good name of Governor Morton, and of those appointed by him 
to carry to the sick and wounded soldier the aid and comfort, 
provided by the State. 

We are not disposed to be the gratuitous lauditors of any jierson, 
but in such a trying time for all public servants, we think those 
who are faithful, honest, and prompt in the discharge of all their 
ofl^icial duties, should be at least exempt from public detraction, and 
that our execrations should be ex|)cnded upon traitors and defraud- 
crs of the public treasury, who, if possible, are worse than traitors. 



19 

So far as relates to President Lincoln, we believe that he carries 
the heaviest burden that has ever been laid upon the shoulders of 
mere mortal man, from Adam downward, "enough to crush Atlan- 
tian shoulders, though fit to bear the weight of mightiest monar- 
chies," and his hands ought to be strengthened and upheld by all 
loyal citizens. He may commit mistakes. Who has not? His 
honesty and patriotism are unquestioned. To you, in conclusion, 
we join the majority of the Senate in rendering our warmest 
thanks and best wishes. We send you no party platform, and 
have no partisan ends to accomplish. We surrender no political 
opinions and ask that none be surrendered by others, but are ready 
to act and join hands with any and all citizens who are uncon- 
ditionally loyal to the Union and the Constitution. We bring no 
railing accusations against our fellows, leaving all citizens and 
parties to be judged by their acts, but we do desire that mere party 
strife be suspended until the rebellion is put down and the Union 
restored. 

We will stand by you and your interests, and the interests of 
your State at home, and pledge you the last dollar and the last man, 
when necessary, to supply your wants or fill your ranks. 

With great respect and esteem, your fellow-citizens, 

WALTER MARCH, 
JOHN L. MANSFIELD, 
THOMAS M. BROWNE, 
J. H. MELLETT, 
M. D. WHITE. 




013 763 107 6 Q 




